Discussion Paper

The Three Critical Steps To Improving Student Learning Outcomes in the Modern Education System

Every school leader’s overarching goal is to Improve Student Learning Outcomes…

According to John Hattie, a leading academic in the field of education the two largest variances affecting student learning outcomes are the innate abilities of the students themselves (50%) and teacher effectiveness which accounts for 30%.

“It is what teachers know, do, and care about which is very powerful in this learningequation.” John Hattie.

We can’t change the innate abilities of our students, but we can influence the way they are taught, helping them to be their best – highly functioning, resilient adults who can think independently and contribute to society in meaningful ways.

This White Paper outlines a program which will help schools in the 21st Century Improve Their Students’ Learning Outcomes through creating more effective and engaged teachers.

What Our Clients Say

I particularly like the Group 8 Performance Development and Coaching program because…

It is based in sound theory.

It is relatively painless to implement.

The student feedback in particular is an excellent resource. Being both affirming as well as showing teachers what areas to focus on.

The changes that I have seen since the implementation of the program include:

Greater openness to discuss teaching and a willingness to have observers in the classroom.

Teachers are more focussed on some core elements of their teaching and on their relationship with students in the class room.

A secondary result has been that there is a sense that “others” know what they are doing in the classroom which leads to greater appreciation of their work.

The acceptance of feedback as well as the encouragement to discuss teaching practice was evident from the first year.

Dr Mark Merry, Yarra Valley Grammar

The magic of the “Performance Development and Coaching” program is that it is both cooperative and it penetrates.

The cognitive coaching aspect of the program is the “engine room” which has led to developing a “learning culture”. A learning culture means that everybody in the organisation is a committed learner.

John as a person has a high level of integrity and great intellectual depth and importantly, a gentle and decent man.

Gerald Bain-King, Christian Brothers’ College St. Kilda, St. Kilda

We decided to work with Group 8 Education’s Performance Development and Coaching program for two reasons.

First, we were impressed by John Corrigan’s passion, depth of knowledge and research as well as his strong belief in school improvement through cognitive coaching. And second, his model fit our beliefs around our teachers’ need for self-reflection on who they were and where they could improve their practice.

One of the best aspects of the program is its flexibility. This allowed us to work with our leadership team and front-line teachers to individualise particular goals that they would like to achieve in their classroom practice and talked about ways to achieve these goals.